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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29801592">A Sense of Pride</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/snasational/pseuds/snasational'>snasational</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:35:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,326</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29801592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/snasational/pseuds/snasational</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans is lucky that he loves him so much; without Papyrus pulling strings behind the scenes, Sans would be doomed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Sense of Pride</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hanna takes on Swapfell! </p><p>Important things to note;</p><p>-this is a personal interpretation! Not canon, not fanon, but something entirely whipped up from Hanna’s brain. I take elements from tons of different versions and I come up with my own, so that being said! The characterization might not be what you expect at all. Character designs are based off of the Red version.<br/>-this WILL get super intense in the future, so please be sure to look for any updated tags in case there’s potential triggers for you.<br/>-updates might be slow, they might be fast, it just all depends really!<br/>-chapter lengths will vary. </p><p>With those notes out of the way, enjoy the show!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Blue eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The person before her bore blue eyes; a feature that Alphys has never seen before. In the underground, there are only three colors. Black, red, or yellow. But not this skeleton, who’s eye lights looked like glowing sapphires. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And on this blue eyed monster's face was the look of rage, pure and raw. His cheekbones are flush with that same shade of blue, and his teeth are clenched so hard it almost looks like they’re going to shatter. He’s shaking too; so hard that Alphys can hear the rattle of bones. </span> 
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to kill you.” He hisses. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alphys smirks. “Oh yeah?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rabbits of Snowdin whisper amongst themselves as they walk by. It is a brave move for this skeleton to confront her out in public, where everyone can see. It impresses her, such bravery is unknown in a world full of liars and pretenders. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You hurt my brother.” Suddenly, he points an accusing finger at her. “You ruined his face. For that, you should be punished!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ah. Papyrus. Alphys should have known that skeleton was going to cause her even more problems. And to get his little brother on her? What a coward. Alphys would smash his face in again if given the chance, but she’d rather stay in the good graces of Queen Toriel. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re Sans.” Alphys tuts and shifts her great axe. The weight of it is solid and comfortable on her shoulder. “I know of you; your mouth is loud and your arrogance is even louder. I like that. But I don’t like your brother, and anything I do to that animal is well deserved.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gets even bluer. It’s mesmerizing to watch, like she’s being enchanted. How is Sans not more spoken of? His appearance is certainly interesting; he looks soft. Nothing like the rugged monsters that inhabit the underground. All Alphys has ever heard about Sans is that he’s Papyrus’ younger brother and he walks around Snowdin like he owns the place.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You had no right!” He yells. “He did nothing but sit at that ridiculous bar, as he usually does!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He backtalked and I’m his superior. I am perfectly within my rights to punish him, not that I have to explain myself to an insolent little twerp such as yourself.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> the insolent one.” He growls. “I will get vengeance for my brother.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This child should feel lucky right now, those blue eyes of his saved him from being backhanded himself. The thought of destroying such a pretty face is a damned shame, and Sans has a fire about his soul that she respects. Now, if only he weren’t so damned confrontational. She can’t let a public call out go unpunished, what would people think of her if she did? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please.” Alphys barks out a laugh. “Calm down, child. All your brother has right now is one less tooth and a wounded pride. But I’m beginning to think that y-“ </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One moment she’s on her feet and the next she’s on her back. The force of her axe falling to the ground makes it shake, and pain pulsates in her left eye. She hears a few monsters gasp. Did she slip? How humiliating. It’s what Alphys gets for carrying around her axe on these icy paths. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pressure on her chest; Alphys opens up her good eye and is met with the sight of Sans propping his foot up on her armored chest. The phalanges on his left hand drip with blood, and he wears a look of smugness. A glint in his eyes reveals bloodlust, something the monster is all too familiar with. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“An eye for an eye. And now you too suffer from a wounded pride, being bested by someone not even in your guard.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Attacking the captain of the Royal Guard is punishable by execution. Many monsters have tried to take her out and have met gruesome deaths from Alphys’ bare hands. If she were to kill </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>particular clod, however, the queen would be most displeased. An upset Papyrus means an impaired judgement, and Toriel relies on her judge every single day. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That doesn’t mean she can’t roughen the brat up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“An eye for an eye, huh?” She grunts. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Sans can comprehend her words, Alphys grabs his ankle and yanks him off of her. He falls to the ground swiftly, yelping childishly at the sudden movements. With a practiced speed, Alphys rolls onto him and straddles his ribcage, bearing all of her body weight down onto him and trapping his arms. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Get off of me, you cow!” Sans screeches. He flails beneath her. “I will dust you! Get off!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The captain reaches behind her and pulls out a knife from her belt. At the sight of it the skeleton freezes. All bark with </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>bite, she’ll give him that, but when faced with the consequences of his actions he acts as if he’s cattle being preyed on. How cute. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then Sans surprises her. He relaxes, all tension leaving his frame like she </span>
  <em>
    <span>isn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>hovering a knife inches away from his bone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do as you will. I’ve already made my mark. Whenever you look in the mirror you will see what I did to you, and you will reap what you sow.” He grins, sharp and predatory. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alphys frowns deeply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As will you.” Is all she says before bringing her weapon down. One slash for the public humiliation, one slash for clawing her eye, and another slash just for the hell of it. Sans makes not a single noise, taking the punishment like he was made for it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His socket is carved in three crisscrossed gashes. Blood seeps from the marrow, dripping down his face and catching on the edge of his grin. Sans doesn’t stop staring up at her, defiant and strong. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alphys realizes something at that moment. Sans would make a </span>
  <em>
    <span>perfect sense </span>
  </em>
  <span>guardsmen. And Papyrus would absolutely hate that, for his distaste of the guard is well known. What a splendid way to get under his ‘skin’! Not only has she wounded and scarred his precious baby brother, but she’s also going to recruit him into the organization he hates the most! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Say, kid? What do you say about joining the guard?” She starts conversationally, like she didn’t just scar him up. ”You take your punishments well and you're strong as shit. If you join and raise the ranks you’ll basically own Snowdin, and I’m in need of a second command.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Get off of me and allow me to heal myself and then perhaps I’ll think about joining your little girls club.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Papyrus runs a conjured tongue over his new tooth. The silver tastes odd to him, and due to Sans’ insistence he got it smithed a lot sharper than his actual tooth. It pokes at his tongue in an uncomfortable manner, and his jaw doesn’t quite sit right anymore. But, he can hardly complain because it hasn’t sat right since Alphys brought her fist to his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was costly, brother.” Sans points out as he kneads dough. Papyrus looks up at him from where he’s sitting at their kitchen table. “Be more appreciative”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. It was my gold that paid for it.” He snarks. “Besides that, you still have yet for tell me how you managed to fuck your eye up.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It is none of your concern.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Papyrus already knows what happened. Not only did a few of his sources come to him about it, but it was also the talk of the town. A small skeleton brings down the Royal Captain Alphys and claws her eye out, and in turn Alphys does this same to him. The townsfolk went wild with that piece of drama; nothing exciting ever happens in Snowdin and to see such a display sparked excitement. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ll tell me one of these days.” And it’s the truth. Papyrus would like to hear the story from Sans’ mouth so he can know </span>
  <em>
    <span>why </span>
  </em>
  <span>there was a fight with Alphys. But Sans is stubborn and it will take much more prodding.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure, if that helps you rest well at night.” Papyrus can’t see the eye roll but it’s written in his tone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Speaking of night, you’ve been staying out awfully late. Dearest Sans, don’t you know how dangerous that is?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, spare me the lectures. You staying out at Muffet’s in the ungodly hours of the night is one of the reasons why you lost your tooth. If you hadn't been out you wouldn't have angered the captain. You ought to be glad Alphys hasn’t muzzled you yet, by the way.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That wench </span>
  <em>
    <span>wishes </span>
  </em>
  <span>she could muzzle me.” Papyrus can’t keep the amusement out of his voice. “Won’t you at least tell me where you go at night? What if you turn up missing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I will be missing. I am fine, Papyrus. I’m seventeen, not twelve.” Sans huffs. He starts sprinkling more flour over his dough, and Papyrus watches with boredom as Sans works. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A true adult. Look at you.” Pretty soon, Papyrus is going to get annoyed. He’s hardly in the mood for an argument with Sans; those tend to last forever. “I’m going to have a smoke. I’ll be back soon.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Enjoy yourself at Muffet’s.” Caught red handed. Unsurprising, Sans is good at reading in between Papyrus’ words. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Papyrus laughs and pulls his hood over his head before leaving the warmth of their house. Muffet has news for him, and for a trade she’s always willing to tell him. She’s also the only one in his network that knows of his true identity, and he trusts her almost as much as he trusts Sans. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey.” He greets her as he walks up to the bar. It’s deserted today due to the festival happening in New Home. Still, you can never be too safe. “Need any help in the back?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Muffet nods. She smells of weed and booze, but that’s nothing new. This whole establishment reeks with it. “Yeah dude, always. Come, I got in a shipment yesterday.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The spider leads him into the back room where a hearth lights everything up. Papyrus has always appreciated the dark glow of this room, it really sets the atmosphere. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You had news for me?” He leans against a table pressed against the wall. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Muffet crosses her arms, her beady eyes narrowed in displeasure. “Burgerpants. I have a video of him insulting the queen.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’ll get you everytime. Poor bastard. “For two hundred coins I’ll take the video to Queen Toriel.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“One hundred and free barbecue sauce for the rest of the year.” She bargains. “I need him out of business, Papyrus. He’s selling that new experimental drug from Waterfall, and not only is it stealing my customers but it’s killing them too.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Considering the fact that it’s April, free barbecue sauce for the rest of the year sounds like a steal to him. For Muffet to be so lenient the competition must be rough. The spider Snowdin’s only drug supplier, which means that any newcomer is a danger to her business. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay. Throw in some of that human pot half priced and I’ll expose the drugs too. It’s an execution for sure.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can tell that Muffet doesn’t want to take the deal. Human drugs are </span>
  <em>
    <span>extremely </span>
  </em>
  <span>hard to come by, and Muffet lucked out when she found a baggy full of seeds. They grow slow down here though, and she can’t grow a lot. That makes it her most expensive item, but it also happens to be the item he wants the most. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...fine. It’s a deal.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Papyrus smirks. “Sweet. Leave the money and video in my mailbox. Is there anything else you needed?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, someone else wanted to get into contact with you. It’s about your brother, I believe.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Papyrus tilts his head. The only time someone has ever wanted to talk to him about Sans is when he ruffles the wrong feathers. Papyrus always has to smoothen them out behind the scenes, lest Sans gets hurt. It’s...unfortunate that Alphys injured him. Finding dirt on her to give the queen has proven to be quite difficult. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Leave them my number. Unrelated, I’m running low on barbecue so I’m going to go ahead and take you up on that offer.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Muffet sighs. “Of course. Just don’t let my other patrons catch wind of the free stuff, the fuckers will think they’re entitled to free things as well. I’m running a restaurant, not a charity organization.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Heh, wouldn’t expect anything else from you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Later that night, he receives a message off of his burner phone. He’d been anxiously waiting for it; messages involving Sans always fill him with anxiety. Cleaning up his brother’s messes is always a finicky thing to do. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Mutt? </em>
  </b>
  <span>The message reads. Papyrus responds seconds after receiving the text. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This is him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Alphys is looking for a new second in command. She’s been grooming Sans, the Judge’s brother, into the role for a few weeks now. People don’t like this. They’re planning on jumping him soon, to prove to Alphys that he isn’t worth it. </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Anger simmers in his bones. He should have known Alphys was the cause of all of Sans’ late night disappearances. And he also should’ve known Alphys was training him for the Royal Guard. The damage is already done, there’s nothing he can do about Sans’ decision. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But there’s certainly something he can do about the violence against his brother. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Names?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The contact gives him a list of names, half of which he already has dirt on. After that they tell him what they want in exchange for this information, like his new clients always do once giving him blackmail material. As it turns out, the client’s estranged father is in the group and they want him dead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, he certainly has some work to do tonight. Sans is lucky that he loves him so much; without Papyrus pulling strings behind the scenes, Sans would be doomed. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Twitter is @ snasational</p></blockquote></div></div>
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